Research Themes

IOSI supports both applied and fundamental research, including proof-of-concept, with a clear line-of-sight towards technology commercialization in oil sands mining operations, in the four research themes: Extraction, Smart Mining / Oil Sands Mining, Tailings, and Value-Added Products. The current focus areas are described below.

Extraction

Focus 2023: Aqueous Bitumen Extraction Optimization

Background

Mined oil sands industry uses a water-based extraction process to separate bitumen from oil sands ore. Here the mined oil sands – after being crushed – are mixed with hot process water and caustic to form a slurry. The slurry is transferred to separation vessels via hydrotransport lines where ore lumps are mechanically sheared, and bitumen gets aerated. The aerated bitumen is separated in the form of froth in the primary separation cell. The unrecovered bitumen is subjected to air flotation. Kearl Oil Sands uses Paraffin Froth Treatment (PFT) process to separate bitumen from water and solids. Over 90% of bitumen recovery can be achieved in the water-based process depending on the ore grade and the processing conditions.

For more general information on the extraction process, including at Imperial Oil, please refer to:

Bitumen extraction by Oil Sands Magazine: https://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/technical/mining/extraction and links therein
Kearl Mine (Imperial Oil) by Oil Sands Magazine: https://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/projects/imperial-oil-kearl-mine and links therein
Virtual tour of Kearl Oil Sands (Imperial Oil): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-pLI86QSMA

Technology and Knowledge Gaps

Methods for decreasing extraction GHG emission.
Reducing water usage for the extraction process.
Methods/processes that can further enhance bitumen separation.
Development of methods and techniques for quick slurry composition measurements – both in-situ and ex-situ.
Fundamental understanding of bitumen aeration and de-aeration process and methods to improve both.
Fundamental understanding of processing ore in the presence of coal.
Using computational methods to develop predictive models (transient and steady-state) for different stages of oil sands processing.
Alternative chemicals for bitumen processing and fundamental science.
Fundamental science for producing cleaner froth (i.e., fewer solids) in extraction.
Methods to reduce fines generated by extraction.
Relationship between slurry conditioning and bitumen recovery and novel conditioning approaches.
In-situ and continuous measurement of froth quality (e.g., imaging or other properties).
Development of technologies and processes to enable Satellite Pit Froth Production.

Preferred Processes and Methods

New process concepts or enhancement of the current practice that could be integrated into the existing process at the central facility, or enable Satellite Pit Froth Production.
Low GHG emission, non-solvent approaches.
Processing to minimize waste rejection.

Oil Sands Mining / Smart Mining

2023 Focus: Materials and Designs to Improve Reliability and Efficiency in Oil Sands Mining

Background

Due to the handling of abrasive oil sands materials, equipment used in the oil sands mining industry experiences a much shorter service life than other mining industries. Equipment covers from front mining moving equipment 7495 shovels or equivalent models, 797F haul trucks, dozers, graders, to plant, ore preparation plant crushers, conveyer, apron feeder chain, vibrating screen, slurry pipeline and pumps etc. The damage mechanisms depend on service conditions: dry abrasion (high, low stress or combined), impact, erosion, corrosion or erosion-corrosion or fatigue crackings.

For more information on the mining process and related material challenges, including at Imperial Oil, refer to the links provided below:

Kearl Mine (Imperial Oil) by Oil Sands Magazine: https://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/projects/imperial-oil-kearl-mineand links therein
Materials and Reliability in Oil Sands (MARIOS): https://innotechalberta.ca/services/materials-and-reliability-in-oil-sands-program/

Technology and Knowledge Gaps

Current attachment methods of wear materials to base support metals suffer spalling off or cracking due to cyclic loading in operation. Very good wear-resistant materials cannot survive high-impact or high-stress abrasion conditions.
3D printing of hybrid materials or large components is still not fully developed in the industry.
Large equipment welding and designs suffer from cyclic loading fatigue service, how to improve its fatigue life is not fully optimized in industry, and the equipment experiences premature failures.

Preferred Processes and Methods

New materials/technology to provide much-improved wear performance compared to current weld overlay, casted wear materials etc.
Improved attachment method/designs for wear-resistant materials to base supporting metals.
Repairing technology on polymer materials to provide comparable wear resistance as base polymer (polymer lined piping).
Advanced inspection technology, like robotics, NDT methods to inspect parts/areas that are hard to reach or cannot be inspected with current NDT methods.
New engineering design/materials/methods to improve fatigue life on mine mobile equipment.
New technology that can reduce parts lead time, inventory, improve designs and operating efficiency.

Smart Mining / Oil Sands Mining

Tailings

Tailings fundamentals

The research in this Theme is carried out in collaboration with Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA).

No open call for proposals.

Value-Added Products

2023 Focus: Value-Added Products from TSRU Tailings

Background

Alberta’s oil sands offer a unique opportunity to diversify products of their exploitation beyond fuel to innovative carbonaceous materials, as well as minerals and organo-mineral composites with added value. It is desired to identify value-added products and processes for their production from rejected streams of upstream oil sands mining operations.

One of the examples of rejected streams of interest is TSRU tailings. Mined oil sands industry uses Paraffin Froth Treatment (PFT) process to separate bitumen from water and solids: https://www.oilsandsmagazine.com/technical/mining/froth-treatment/paraffinic. The rejected tailing stream from the tailing solvent recovery unit (TSRU) of PFT contains about 75% water, 20% minerals, 4% asphaltenes, 1% maltenes, <0.1% paraffinic solvent. There must be economic and environmental benefits to converting TSRU tailings into valuable products.

Challenges

Innovative methods to produce solid carbon materials from TSRU tailings, including but not limited to activated carbon, graphitic carbon and carbon fibre.
Methods to separate solid carbon from minerals after high-temperature treatment of TSRU tailings.
Viable pathway to a commercial process, i.e., large-scale demonstration.
Valuable carbon-mineral composites.
Construction materials; process additives.
Light hydrocarbons.
Silica materials (colloidal silica, sodium silicate, etc.); clay (kaolinite); soil-like materials. Excluded products of interest are titanium, zirconium, and rare earth elements.
The preferred feedstock is wet TSRU tailings.
The preferred technologies are those with low energy intensity, low GHG emissions and non-solvent approaches, with a low footprint and potential pilot or small commercial demonstration within 5 years.